President Donald Trump initiated his four-day Middle East tour on Tuesday with a meeting with Saudi Arabia’s effective leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, to discuss American endeavours to dismantle Iran’s nuclear ambitions, cease hostilities in Gaza, maintain stable oil prices, and other key issues.

Upon disembarking from Air Force One to commence his Middle East tour, Prince Mohammed extended a cordial welcome to Trump.

Subsequently, the two leaders withdrew to a magnificent hall at the Riyadh airport, where Trump and his advisors were served traditional Arabic coffee by attentive attendants adorned with ceremonial gun-belts.

The ceremony commenced even before Trump's arrival, with Royal Saudi Air Force F-15s providing a ceremonial escort for Air Force One as it neared the capital.

Donald Trump and Prince Mohammed were slated to attend a luncheon at the Royal Court. Numerous prominent business executives were extended invitations to the event, notably Stephen Schwarzman, CEO of Blackstone Group, Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, and Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX.

Musk is also in charge of the Department of Government Efficiency, a difficult project for the second term that aims to find and stop waste, fraud, and abuse in the U.S. government.

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Saudi Arabian national petroleum and natural gas company, Aramco, reports first-quarter profits of $26 billion, a decrease of 4.6% compared to the previous year.

Subsequently, the crown prince is set to host a formal dinner in Trump's honor. Furthermore, Trump is slated to participate in a U.S.-Saudi investment conference on Tuesday.

"When Saudis and Americans collaborate, the outcomes are notably positive, and frequently, they are truly exceptional," stated Saudi Investment Minister Khalid al-Falih.

Saudi Arabia and other OPEC+ countries have already bolstered their position with Trump early in his second term by increasing oil output; Trump views affordable energy as vital to reducing expenses and containing inflation for Americans, and the president has also argued that lower oil prices would accelerate the end of Russia’s conflict in Ukraine.

However, Saudi Arabia's economy still depends a lot on oil. To balance its budget, the country needs the price of oil to be between $96 and $98 a barrel. It is not clear how long OPEC+, which is led by Saudi Arabia, will continue to produce so much oil, especially since a barrel of Brent crude oil was only $64.77 at the end of Monday.

"While lower oil prices don't necessarily jeopardise the economic diversification programmes of the Gulf states, they certainly make them more difficult," stated Jon Alterman, a prominent Middle East analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

Initially, Trump selected the kingdom as his inaugural destination due to its commitment to substantial investments in the U.S.; however, he ultimately journeyed to Italy last month for Pope Francis’ funeral. Riyadh ultimately served as the initial overseas visit of his first term.

The three nations on the president’s itinerary — Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates — are all locations where the Trump Organization, overseen by Trump’s two elder sons, is undertaking significant real estate ventures. These encompass a high-rise structure in Jeddah, a lavish hotel in Dubai, and a golf course and villa complex in Qatar.

Trump is trying to show that his way of dealing with other countries, which is based on making deals, is working. This is happening while Democrats are criticizing him. They say his trade taxes around the world and his actions regarding Russia's war in Ukraine are making the United States separate from its friends.

He is expected to announce agreements with the three rich countries. These agreements will cover artificial intelligence, increasing energy cooperation, and possibly new weapons sales to Saudi Arabia. Earlier this month, the government gave initial approval to sell $3.5 billion worth of air-to-air missiles for Saudi Arabia’s fighter planes.

However, Trump’s arrival in the Middle East coincided with a period when his primary regional partners, Israel and Saudi Arabia, held perspectives significantly divergent from his own strategy.

Prior to the journey, Trump declared that the U.S. was discontinuing a nearly two-month U.S. airstrike operation targeting Yemen's Houthis, stating the Iran-supported rebels had promised to cease attacks on vessels navigating a crucial global trade channel.

The administration did not tell Israel about the agreement before Trump announced it publicly. The Houthis still attack Israel. This was another time Trump did not tell the Israelis what his administration was discussing with enemies they both had.

In March, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was not told by the government until after talks started with Hamas about the war in Gaza. Also, Netanyahu only found out about the U.S. nuclear talks with Iran when Trump announced them during the Israeli leader's visit to the Oval Office last month.

Last week, after Trump announced a truce with the Houthis, Netanyahu stated that "Israel will defend itself independently." He added, "Should others join us, particularly our American allies, that would be most advantageous."

William Wechsler, a senior director at the Atlantic Council, said it was unusual that Trump decided not to visit Israel during his first trip to the Middle East.

"The key takeaway from this, based on the current itinerary, is that the Gulf governments are demonstrably stronger allies of President Trump at present than the current Israeli government," stated Wechsler.

Meanwhile, Trump aims to revive his initial-term endeavor to normalize relations between the principal Middle Eastern powers, Israel and Saudi Arabia. His Abraham Accords initiative facilitated agreements by Sudan, the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco to establish normalized relations with Israel.

However, Riyadh has stipulated that, in return for normalization, it requires U.S. security assurances, support for its nuclear ambitions, and tangible progress toward the establishment of a Palestinian state. Given the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict and Israeli threats concerning Gaza, the prospects for advancing Palestinian statehood appear minimal.

Significantly, Prince Mohammed recently welcomed Palestinian Vice President Hussein Sheikh in Jeddah, marking the latter's inaugural overseas trip since taking office in April.

Hussain Abdul-Hussain, a researcher at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said the crown prince seemed to be quietly telling Trump that the Saudis need to see progress on creating a Palestinian state before they can seriously start working on a peace deal with the Israelis.

Given how the Saudis usually show their plans, that's a warning meaning, 'Don't even think about asking us to be nice about making things normal,' Abdul-Hussain said.